And the Oscar Winners Go to...

ACADEMY Awards; MOTION picture actors & actresses; PARTIES; THERON, Charlize, 1975-; WOODROFFE, Patrick; PENN, Sean, 1960-; ZELLWEGER, Renee, 1969-; ROBBINS, Tim, 1958-; HARDEN, Marcia Gay, 1959-; MOTION picture awards

The article looks at the post-Academy Award parties. Forget the fancy frocks. "The Governors Ball is one of the most beautiful things about the Academy Awards," declared Marcia Gay Harden. "There's food!" After sitting through the nearly four-hour ceremony, hungry hobbits and other famished film stars streamed into the Kodak Theatre's Grand Ballroom to fill up before heading out. How do you cater a sit-down meal at Mortons for 150 of Oscar's intimate friends? For a start, engage Patrick Woodroffe, who designed the lighting for Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee concerts at Buckingham Palace. Vanity Fair's famously eclectic mix included civilians, stars and even a moon-walker, astronaut Buzz Aldrin. After the final envelope is opened and the last agent thanked, every celebrity has a plan--and most of those plans include Vanity Fair's top-line do, a tough ticket that draws a rich mix of the famous from showbiz and beyond. With the adrenaline still flowing like champagne, and the champagne flowing like water, Oscar laureates Charlize Theron, Sean Penn, Renee Zellweger and Tim Robbins mixed and mingled--and stargazed just like everyone else.